Randolph County residents are relieved after capture of Lewis and Nichols

After an overnight crime spree, residents in Randolph County had been told to keep their doors locked today as police hunted down the suspects.

Many told us they were watching closely.

Now tonight, the men responsible for this crime are behind bars.

ABC 17 News spoke with people outside the Wal-Mart in Moberly today, where Jeffrey Nichols and Christopher Lewis began their spree with shoplifting before starting their run through Randolph County.

People were relieved the whole thing was over.

But feelings of confusion and hurt are still lingering.

“Well, first I was scared to death because my kids, one of my kids, was here in, actually it was in Wal-Mart,” local resident Cindy Furlong told ABC 17 News.

Furlong says she was up late last night when she heard the news of the first crimes that began at the Wal-Mart.

Living on a farm in a rural area, Furlong said she was worried anytime a car drove by her house, fearing it was one of the suspects.

When she got word of their capture in Macon, she says she was overjoyed.

“I got a text and the text said they’d caught them. I was like ‘oh, thank goodness,'” Furlong said.

While the people I spoke with are relieved, the sadness created by such a violent act still hangs heavy, especially for one who knew a victim through her son’s friend.

“He got up out of bed and said one of his friends at work had to leave because it was his grandmother that got beat up,” Moberly resident Terri Larison told ABC 17 News.

With three victims and the families of those victims forever impacted, it leaves Randolph County asking the question: Why?

The answer to that question is still unclear.

But for now, locals say they are just glad the two men were caught.

They also say they will sleep a little more peacefully tonight.